Good things are worth the wait ...?
I finally received a new EP500 ... the one I received earlier emitted a hum whenever I turned it on. Axiom support had me remove a screw a the back of the sub which didn't fix it. They thought it was an amp issue caused by shiping damage, and sent me a new one pronto (which didn't have that issue). Brent at Axiom Support was extremely responsive/helpful -- their support team is a pleasure to work with.

The structured wiring guys were able to help me out. They cut open the drywall and ran two pairs of two conductor wires to each surround/rear speaker (they bound the pair with duct tape every 5 feet or so). They twisted the ends of two pairs and thus made a 12 guage wire from two pairs of 16 guage. Other than the dry wall fix (which should happen in a few days), I'm set.

In 1-2 days I should have everything set up, and I'll let you guys know how it worked out